Kurt Taylor
| birthname = Kurt Bernard Taylor | birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S. | died = | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | occupation = Actor, Screenwriter, former athlete | spouse = Sharon, 1966–? (divorced), 4 children | yearsactive = 1969-2005 | series = Good Times | job = Writer, "Black Jesus" and "The Checkup" (Season 1) Writer (Story) "Florida Flips" (Season 2) and "Grandpa's Visit" (Season 4) }} Kurt Taylor (born September 21, 1944-died June 4, 2012) had a hand in writing a total of four episodes of Good Times in Seasons 1 and 2. Born and raised in Houston,Texas, Kurt graduated from Evans E. Worthing Junior and Senior High school where he played football, baseball and ran track with Otis Taylor (All- Pro/Kansas City Chiefs-wide receiver). He then attended Prairie View A&M University, where he played both football and baseball. In 1969, Kurt (and his wife & kids) left Houston, and headed west to Los Angeles, California in pursuit of the Entertainment Industry as a stand -up comedian. There he learned (and might not have accepted) the truth of not being "funny" enough for stand-up, but had a flare for idea and concept...which led to comedy writing. Career Bill Cosby was responsible for Kurt's first professional writing job in Hollywood on The New Bill Cosby Show on CBS, as a staff writer in 1972. Kurt was hired to write Bill Cosby's opening comedy monologues. Then Kurt met Norman Lear, who was impressed with Kurt's creative talents and became Kurt's mentor. Lear taught him how to write situation comedy. Kurt's first situation comedy episode was with the episode of "Good Times", titled "Black Jesus" in Season 1. Norman Lear also hired Kurt as a staff writer and freelance on some of his other shows, such as The Jeffersons, Diff'rent Strokes and Sanford. Kurt also worked as a staff writer for the Flip Wilson Show (1973) ''and as a writer for the UPN-TV sitcom series ''Malcolm & Eddie (Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Eddie Griffin) from 1996-1998. Kurt was one of the first African-American writers to write for major networks (CBS, NBC, ABC) for black comedy shows in the 1970's and 80's, and most of those shows were from Norman Lear/Bud Yorkin (TANDEM Productions). As an actor, Kurt appeared as Issac in the 1977 sports/action film Semi-Tough, which co-starred Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson. He also appeared in the films Tunnel Vision (1976), Cracking Up (1977, which starred Jerry Lewis), Coming Attractions (1978), and N.T.V. Volume 1 in 2005. He also appeared as himself as an untalented comic in an episode of Sanford and Son in 1973 titled "Presenting the Three Degrees", and in an episode of What's Happening Now!! in 1985. Death Kurt died in Los Angeles, California from a stubborn battle with prostate cancer. He was survived by his four children, son Keith Vonkraig, and daughters Kimberly, Keisha Renee, and Kenya.In Memoriam in 2012, SAG/AFTRA official website, PDF file, page 10, accessed 1/3/2014. References External links *Kurt Taylor at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) Please review Mr. Taylor's credits & resume on IMDb. Category:Screenwriters